All articles in category Australasia
By Martin Leech
October 2015
Australia
Visiting the Australian Outback
It took a few attempts before I could get the hang of pronouncing ‘Gulargambone’ correctly. The name means ‘place of Galahs’ or ‘watering place of many birds’, in the language of the local indigenous people. Gulargambone is a small community of about 400 people located more than 500km north-west of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. Galahs are grey- and rose-coloured cockatoos found in large numbers in the area. Our journey to Gulargambone began in Sydney with a train ride of nearly seven hours, winding our way up through the Blue Mountains to the west of the city and heading off towards the western plains....
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October 2011
Australia
One year in
One year in Mourners cluster on the parched grass outside the tin-roofed chapel filled with grieving family, as I seek gently to bring the gospel of God to them and to thank the Lord for an aboriginal woman’s life in the face of her early death. A year ago we were strangers, but now are counted friends. A number embrace us as family and we care deeply for them. It has been a long journey from our loving church in Hertfordshire to join the aboriginal community of Gilgandra, yet ‘up to this point the Lord has helped us’. We have left two adult children...
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By Trevor Leggott
April 2010
Australia
Australian Aboriginal churches
Australian Aboriginal churches Australian Indigenous Ministries (AIM), previously known as the Aborigines Inland Mission, is a conservative evangelical organisation whose foundations go back to 1905. From the beginning, ministry was aimed at establishing Aboriginal Christians to lead and guide their own people. With the benefit of hindsight, AIM recognises that more in the past could have been done with a less paternalistic attitude. Today, AIM is working with local indigenous Christians. Many churches have grown up which, whilst not exclusively Aboriginal, do have strong indigenous social and cultural perspectives. In Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) there are long established such Christian...
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By Peter Barnes
February 2007
Australia
Australian Evangelicalism
Snapshots of history have their charms and their dangers. The last forty years or so of Australian evangelicalism have seen hopes rise and fall, as they invariably do. The mid-1960s were nothing short of catastrophic — despite the 1959 Billy Graham crusades. These crusades were considered so successful that many thought Australia came close to revival. Marcus Loane wrote that Billy Graham was ‘God’s man for this century’. The foundations, however, were decidedly weak. For too many churchmen, evangelism had little to do with theological content, and too much to do with the survival of the church as an institution. In the 1960s Sunday...
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By Douglas Milne
June 2004
Australia
The gospel of grace in Australia
The centre of Australian evangelical life in Australia is the Anglican diocese of Sydney – centred on Moore College, the publications of Matthias Press, and the national leadership of Archbishop Peter Jensen. Its influence radiates outwards into the whole of Australian Christian life and work. While some aspects of this influence give me cause for concern, the heart of the gospel of God’s saving grace is undoubtedly proclaimed, and that forcefully. Dr Peter Jensen has given stalwart leadership both inside and beyond his own denomination on issues such as homosexuality and women’s ordination. Reclaiming the foundations In the last generation (since 1977 when the...
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By Murray Adamthwaite
March 2004
Australia
Developments Down Under
Having recently visited the UK, and been invited to write for ET about the situation facing Christians in Australia, I am most happy to contribute this short report on conditions in the Antipodes. Australia and Britain share many of the problems endemic in Western countries generally, and I am sure the reader will readily identify with much that follows. L et me start with an event which occurred in June 1977 — the merger of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia, and the Congregational Union of Australia to form the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA). The Methodists had in large...
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February 2003
New Zealand
Missionary Spotlight-Facts
Area: 104,534 square miles. New Zealand comprises the North and South Islands (separated by the Cook Strait), and numerous smaller islands. Environment: Mountainous, with stunning scenery (Mount Cook 3,764 metres) and large coastal plains. North Island has three active volcanoes. The climate is temperate, with strong local variations. There is a wide variety of wildlife. Population: 4 million, with 75% living on North Island and 80% in the cities. Life expectancy: Men 75 years, women 81 years. Ethnic groups: New Zealand European 73%, Maori 10%, other European 5%, Pacific islander 4%, Asian and others 8%. There are many immigrants. Official languages: English and Maori.Literacy: 99%....
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By Geoffery Macpherson
February 2003
New Zealand
Missionary Spotlight-A powerful work of God
‘We did not mean to become Christians’, said Esmaeil as we sat in his lounge. ‘But we were slowly changed as we read the Holy Book and listened to your speaking at the church’. Fatemeh his wife nodded her agreement, while their 6-year-old daughter Salmah looked on. Asylum seekers Another elder and I from the EPC (Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Christchurch) were visiting this gentle Iranian family in their home in response to their request for baptism. They had previously requested baptism, but we had declined, because there were questions about sincerity. Now we asked ourselves: ‘Who are we to withhold baptism from those who profess...
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By Andrew Young
February 2003
New Zealand
Missionary Spotlight-Contending for the truth
I became an active Christian late in the 1960s, at a critical juncture in the history of Reformed Presbyterianism in New Zealand. The Principal of the Presbyterian Theological Hall, Knox College, had been charged with heresy for his unorthodox views on the Bible and the gospel. To the amazement of Evangelical Christians, he was acquitted of the charges. This outcome endorsed the principle of radically liberal academic freedom in theological institutions. The Presbyterian Church in New Zealand was agitated as never before. Confusion These events created tension and confusion for young Evangelical Christians like myself who were considering entering the ministry of that church. The...
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By Stephen Turner
February 2003
New Zealand
Missionary Spotlight-New Zealand today
If you ever visit the Bay of Islands in New Zealand’s upper North Island, take the ferry to the particular bay where the gospel was first preached, by Samuel Marsden from Australia. That was on Christmas Day 1814. The general area is well worth visiting, having various historical sites that recall early missionary effort. Maori During the early years of European settlement, the gospel had a considerable effect upon the Maori people. So much so, that by the early 1840s a large proportion of the Maori population attended church on Sundays. Sadly, today, it is a different story. While still claiming to belong to mainline...
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